Do you agree with a clamp down on 'mindless' culture of eating unhealthy foods?

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Dame Sally Davies stepped down from her role as England's chief medical officer and her final report recommends ways to tackle a snacking culture she believes has taken hold of the UK.

Most notable among her recommendations was the idea that snacking should be banned on public transport to clamp down on a "mindless" culture of eating unhealthy foods at various times of the day.

Should snacking be banned on buses and trains, or is the idea too difficult to make a reality?

The Claim

Dame Sally said children are "drowning in a flood" of unhealthy options that are leading to an epidemic of obesity.

The public transport snacking ban is designed to stop children eating unhealthy foods when going to and from school, though it will also apply to adults as part of an attempt to encourage good behaviour.

Snacks and unhealthy drinks would be banned, though people would still be allowed to drink water on public transport.

There is a target to halve childhood obesity by 2030 but Dame Sally warned that this target would be missed unless successive governments took decisive action.

Health experts support the report's recommendations but they are concerned that the government wouldn't do enough, fearing accusations of becoming too much of a "nanny state" with public transport bans and new taxes on unhealthy foods.

The Counter Claim

However, banning snacks on public transport has a number of problems right from the get-go.

In practice how exactly are train staff supposed to stop all of their passengers from eating? Is there going to be somebody going through buses and trains confiscating snacks and how are they going to be everywhere at once?

Allowances would also have to be made for certain people, including those who suffer from diabetes who might need to eat on public transport. The snacking ban recommendation does suggest making an exception for people who may have a medical reason to be eating.

Businesses have also voiced their opposition to the idea. UK Hospitality denounced the idea as "a knee-jerk, impractical and unfair measure" while the Food and Drink Federation urged the government not to introduce punitive measures when food manufacturers were already trying to make their products healthier.

The Facts

Dame Sally also called for extra taxes on unhealthy foods and plain packaging for chocolate and crisps.

She also wants to tackle advertising of unhealthy foods, as almost half of all annual food marketing spending is for unhealthy food and drink.

Each year around £300million, or 46 per cent of the total spending, goes on these foods, with 18 per cent on sweets, 17 per cent on other snacks and 11 per cent of soft drinks. By comparison, only 2.5 per cent of annual food advertising spending goes on promoting fruit and vegetables.

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the UK, with data from 2017/18 reporting that 34 per cent of children between 10 - 11 years old are overweight or worse, up from 15 per cent in 1990.

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Of that 34 per cent of children who are overweight or worse, 14 per cent are overweight, 16 per cent are obese and four per cent are classed as severely obese, a record number.

Obesity is a bigger problem in more deprived areas and it leads to an increased risk of many diseases including cancer and heart disease. The UK's obesity problem is considered to be a factor behind a rise in cases of diabetes.

Among the other recommendations in Dame Sally's final report are free water refills being available at all food outlets, public transport stations and public buildings. She also wants planning regulations changed to make it harder to build fast food outlets.